Man upset with airline makes hoax bomb call, arrested
Nashik: A Nashik-Hyderabad flight of the Alliance Air was delayed due to a bomb threat call received shortly before its take-off, which later turned out to be a hoax, police said on Sunday.
The incident took place on Saturday evening and the police later arrested the caller, who allegedly made the call after failing to get a seat in the flight, they said.
The flight was scheduled to take-off at 8.25 pm on Saturday from the airport here in Maharashtra.
About 20 minutes before the scheduled take-off, the Nashik rural police control room received a call that a bomb was planted in the plane, an official from Dindori police station said.
As a result, the passengers were deplaned.
A police team and the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad (BDDS) rushed there and checked the plane, but no bomb or any other suspicious thing was found, the official said.
The flight later left for its destination in the wee hours of Sunday, he said.
The police arrested a person, identified as Pabbinedi Viresh Venkat Narayan Murthy (33), an engineer from Kakinada, in Andhra Pradesh, who had booked a ticket with the airline to go to Hyderabad.
As his ticket PNR status was not updated, he reached the airport where the staff of the airline told him to get another ticket.
The accused, who wanted to go home urgently to meet his pregnant wife, then had an argument with the airline's staff, the police official said.
He later left the airport and made the bomb threat phone call to the Nashik rural police control room as he was upset with the airline, the official said.
The police checked the airport's CCTV footage wherein they the accused was seen in conversation with the airline's staff. The police later tracked him through his mobile phone and arrested him from Nashik city, the official said.
A case was registered against the accused under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, he added.
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CM Siddaramaiah alleges ‘criminal conspiracy’ in Sringeri recount, vows legal action
Bengaluru (PTI): Alleging a “criminal conspiracy” by BJP candidate D N Jeevaraj in the Sringeri Assembly poll recounting, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the outcome was manipulated after valid postal ballot votes in favour of Congress leader T D Raje Gowda were tampered with during the recounting process.
Following a Karnataka High Court order on an election petition filed by Jeevaraj, challenging Raje Gowda’s election, the reverification and recounting were conducted on Saturday.
After the reverification and recount of postal ballots for the Sringeri Assembly constituency, votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda were reduced by 255, the returning officer said.
A report on the matter has been submitted to the Election Commission of India for further action, the officer added.
Congress leader Raje Gowda had won the 2023 Assembly polls from Sringeri by 201 votes, defeating his nearest rival Jeevaraj.
Addressing a press conference in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said the High Court had directed the recounting of postal ballots and that irregularities were noticed during the exercise conducted on May 2.
“This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” Siddaramaiah said, alleging that valid votes cast in favour of Raje Gowda were altered after being accepted by counting agents of all parties, including Congress, BJP, and JD(S).
He claimed that during the recounting of postal ballots, 255 votes were initially accepted as valid by all agents but were later tampered with by subordinate officials.
“There is a second mark on the votes polled in favour of Raje Gowda. They had accepted these as valid votes. Subsequently, another mark was made by officials. This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” he said.
When asked who was behind the alleged conspiracy, the CM replied, “It was hatched by Jeevaraj and others. It is planned.”
Siddaramaiah further alleged that the returning officer acted improperly by declaring the result despite the presence of an Election Commission observer during the recounting.
“Immediately after the counting, the returning officer announced the result. He should not have done so; this is against the law,” he said.
He pointed out that Raje Gowda had originally won by 201 votes, but after the recounting, the BJP candidate was declared the winner by 52 votes.
“The BJP has committed a criminal act of conspiracy. This is not vote chori but vote dacoity,” he alleged.
The CM said a police complaint had already been filed by Raje Gowda’s election agent, Sudhir Kumar, and emphasised the need for electoral integrity.
“We want transparency and free and fair elections. That is what our Constitution mandates,” he added.
Stating that the government would pursue legal remedies, Siddaramaiah said, “We are preparing an appeal challenging the returning officer’s announcement in a court of law.”
Responding to a separate query on elections in other states, the CM said there appeared to be an anti-incumbency factor in West Bengal, while results in Tamil Nadu were “surprising,” adding that Vijay’s party was emerging as the largest there.
Following the victory of party candidates in Bagalkote and Davanagere South, Siddaramaiah expressed confidence about future electoral prospects in Karnataka.
“Even in 2028, we will win the Assembly elections. We will come back,” the CM said.
Siddaramaiah added that he would order a forensic examination into the alleged tampering of postal ballots.
